The value of Individual Liberty is based on the notion that we are free and responsible for our own actions. But the value of Respect also causes us to draw inspiration from great examples of how to live in this world.

OPENING ACTIVITY

Leg it with luggage (illustration)

Invite some volunteers to do some acting. Two volunteers can hold a length of string/ribbon, and pretend to be supporters, holding up the finishing tape. Another two or three volunteers can pretend to be runners. However, give one of the runners some luggage and ask them to pretend that each bag is really heavy. Ask the group to act out a race. Highlight the fact that the overloaded runner wasn’t able to win.

Keep going (illustration)

Give a volunteer a challenging activity, such as juggling (be careful not to pick a juggling pro!) or throwing a ball into a bucket or ring. Invite the whole group to support the volunteer, encouraging them to keep going and not give up.

You could follow up this activity in the classroom by asking the class to design banners, which could encourage people to keep going when they are struggling – much like racing banners encourage runners to keep going.

FILM CLIP

Play the clip from Turbo (DreamWorks, 2014) certificate U: Beginning of chapter one:

Turbo may be a snail but he is determined to be fast. He is obsessed with motor racing. One night, he watches a famous race, and slithers around the TV screen, pretending to be a car himself. He pretends to win the race, and give an interview. He tells his fans, that his motivation is speed. Turbo then watches the real interview with true winner, Guy Gagné. Guy shares some advice: ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.’ Turbo goes on to break his record: 36m… seventeen minutes!

Welcome everyone. Today, we’re going to be thinking about a special race, which all of us are signed up for. It’s not a sports-day event, or a charity fun-run; it’s much bigger than that. It takes a lifetime to finish this race. There are plenty of hurdles to jump and obstacles to navigate. Sometimes it feels like a sprint, but overall it’s definitely a marathon. What is this race? It is life.

We can think of our whole lives as one big race. As we continue to grow and learn, it is like we are constantly moving forward, racing towards a finishing line. Today we’re going to think about what inspires us for this race – what inspires us to live life to the max.

Let’s watch a clip about an unusual racer, and see if we can learn anything. His nickname is Turbo and he is… a snail.

Play the clip from Turbo (DreamWorks, 2014) certificate U: Beginning of chapter one:

Turbo may be a snail but he is determined to be fast. He is obsessed with motor racing. One night, he watches a famous race, and slithers around the TV screen, pretending to be a car himself. He pretends to win the race, and give an interview. He tells his fans, that his motivation is speed. Turbo then watches the real interview with true winner, Guy Gagné. Guy shares some advice: ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.’ Turbo goes on to break his record: 36m… seventeen minutes!

[PowerPoint slide 2]

What inspires Turbo? [Take suggestions – speed, racing, Guy Gagné.] What do you think of his dream to be fast? [Take suggestions.] What can Turbo do to make his dream come true? [Take suggestions – train, learn about racing, become a different animal!] What holds him back? [Take suggestions – being a snail, his brother.]

[PowerPoint slide 3]

Turbo looks to Guy Gagné for inspiration. His motto is inspiring for all of us: ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.’

The Bible has some advice about living life as if you were in a race too. Let’s have a look at what it says.

Read Hebrews 12:1-3 [PowerPoint slide 4-6]:

‘Like people running a race, we must take off everything that is heavy. We must put off all wrong – wrong things that get in our way. We must not stop running until we reach the mark that has been put in front of us.

[click] We must keep our eyes on Jesus. He believed from first to last. What was put in front of him made him glad, so he did not give up when the people nailed him on a cross. He did not care about the shame. And now he is sitting beside God.

[click] Think about him. He did not give up when bad people said wrong things about him. When you think about him, you will not become tired and your hearts will not give up.’

[PowerPoint slide 7]

What do athletes wear when they run a race? [Take suggestions.] Do they carry handbags? What about suitcases? Do they wear hefty coats? No! Athletes take off everything that is heavy, so they can run as fast as possible. The Bible suggests that we do the same thing. ‘We must put off all wrong – wrong things that get in our way.’ Things like lying, disobeying parents and bullying other children weigh us down. We feel bad and we get into trouble. It slows us down.

[PowerPoint slide 8]

Have you ever seen a sprinter take a break just before crossing the finishing line? No, as they look at the finishing tape, all thought of giving up disappears and they want to run all the faster. In life, we must not give up on our goals, or we will have no hope of reaching them. But what about when life is difficult? What is the finishing line ahead of us, that could help us to keep going even when life is hard?

[PowerPoint slide 9]

The Bible offers us an inspiration to help us not give up. A bit like Guy Gagné inspired Turbo, we can be inspired by Jesus. Jesus has already run the race of life, and he never gave up, even though he was bullied worse than we can probably imagine. He kept going because he could see something wonderful ahead of him: his finishing line was being with God forever in Heaven. And now he asks us to run the same race, with his help. And he promises that, if we rely on him, then Heaven is in front of us too.

[PowerPoint slide 10]

How do you think you are doing in your race at the moment? Perhaps you feel like you’re doing really well – racing through your homework, excelling in your after-school clubs, continuing to be kind even when your sister or brother is driving you crazy! Or maybe you feel like you’re lagging behind – struggling to obey your parents, failing to be nice to your classmates, feeling frustrated with life in general.

Do you feel excited about what you are doing or where you are heading? Or do you feel like giving up on your dreams because they seem too big and you feel too small?

Headings and Bullets

Introduction [PowerPoint slide 1]

Welcome.

Introduce the concept of life as a race.

What inspires us to live life to the max?

Introduce film clip:

Play the clip from Turbo (DreamWorks, 2014) certificate U: Beginning of chapter one:

His motto is inspiring for all of us: ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small’.

Read Hebrews 12:1-3 [PowerPoint slide 4-6]:

What slows us down? [PowerPoint slide 7]

What do athletes wear when they run a race?

Athletes take off everything that is heavy, so they can run as fast as possible.

The Bible suggests that we do the same thing: ‘We must put off all wrong – wrong things that get in our way’.

What keeps us going? [PowerPoint slide 8]

Have you ever seen a sprinter take a break just before crossing the finishing line?

As they look at the finishing tape, all thought of giving up disappears and they want to run all the faster.

We must not give up on our goals, or we will have no hope of reaching them.

What is our inspiration? [PowerPoint slide 9]

The Bible offers us an inspiration to help us not give up.

Jesus has already run the race of life, and he never gave up.

He kept going because he could see something wonderful ahead of him.

And now he asks us to run the same race.

Your own race [PowerPoint slide 10]

How do you think you are doing in your race at the moment?

Perhaps you feel like you’re doing really well.

Or maybe you feel like you’re lagging behind.

Do you feel excited about what you are doing or where you are heading? Or do you feel like giving up on your dreams because they seem too big and you feel too small?

RESPOND

Reflection

Close your eyes, so you can think clearly.

Picture your life as one big race. You cross the starting line when you are born, and from that moment, every activity is part of the race.

Imagine yourself taking off everything that is heavy – all the wrong things that get in our way. Picture the finishing line ahead of you, whether that is Heaven or some other goal that excites you.

Think about what you can do to get there. So, if your goal is becoming a professional dancer, then you can practise hard in your dance lessons. Or if your dream is becoming a lawyer, then you can work hard in your classes. If your goal is Heaven, then you can trust in Jesus and follow his example.

Finally, think about what inspires you. What will help you to keep going and never give up? For Turbo, it was speed and his motor-racing heroes. For Christians, it is Jesus. Who are your role-models, and how can you learn from them? Remember what Guy Gagné told Turbo: ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.’

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for giving us life! Thank you for also giving us Jesus, to inspire us and support us through this race. Please help us to keep going when life is hard. Amen.

Respond Later

Heroes and heroines (class follow-up)

Each child could choose an inspirational person to research, or you could provide a selection of famous people for them to research. In addition, they could read Hebrews 11 to find out about some of the heroes and heroines of the Christian faith, and read Hebrews 12:1 to see how they might encourage us to run our own race.